Looking for family games to take along on vacations or family trips? Consider making a small games box. One of those plastic tool boxes the kids use for school works great. Here’s a list of items to include:
- 2 decks of cards with contrasting back designs (so if you interminglee them, you can easily separate them as well. Use them to play Go Fish, War, Solitaire games, Hearts and other card games, even ‘blasts from the past’ like Old Maid (Use one Joker as the Old Maid!).
- 6 dice (store in a snack baggie) to play Yahtzee, Farkle and XXX. Remember to copy off the game boards and directions to take along.
- pencils and scrap paper (enough for everyone to have their own) and a pencil sharpener!
- a small, solar calculator (you might not have cell phone service everywhere!)
If you have space in your luggage include small game boards. A 100-piece puzzle can us fun. Roll 1 or 2 dice over and over to see how many puzzle pieces you’ve earned the right to put into the puzzle. The person who adds the last piece wins!
If you are looking for additional ideas, check out my website at www.paddyeger.com. Go to the Educating America section where you will find dozens of easy-to-learn games that use dice and/or cards suitable for families with young kids up through adults. They are categorized as Individual or Partner games of a variety of difficulty levels. All can be played in 10-15 minutes.
